End Times Newspaper

End Times

P. 4

Date: 06 October 2018

Volume 01: Week No. 122

MORE SIGNS OF JESUS COMING

I

N his day, Jesus foretold wars (and rumors thereof), famines, plagues and earthquakes in different parts of the world and likened them to labor pains (Matth.

24:6-8). He also foretold the distress of nations because of the turbulence in the sky and the sea (Luk. 21:25-26).

Interestingly, labor pains are progressive, with contractions occurring more frequently and at greater intensity… until the child is born. The conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire (before Christ’s birth) each resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Daily Star

Conservative estimates of the World War I (1914 –18) and II (1939 – 45) death tolls are over 10 and 60 million respectively. An escalation of the current Middle and Far East conflicts could Although, the casualties are fewer than the dwarf these precedents (given the catastrophic Spanish Flu pandemic (1918nuclear capabilities of the nations 20, 75 million deaths), they highlight involved). a rapidly increasing trend of The famines recorded in biblical and plagues. Last week’s 7.5 historic accounts resulted in thousands of magnitude earthquake and casualties; numbers eclipsed by the tsunami in Indonesia served diverse famines since, most notably the as a reminder of its 9.1 tens of millions of who died in China magnitude predecessor in and India during the famines of the late 2004, which killed 230,000 18th and early 19th centuries. The people. current humanitarian crisis in Yemen alone, has left close to 10 million people Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Maria (2017) on the brink of starvation. The past resulted in damages of close to $100 billion decade has seen the outbreak of multiple (respectively) and thousands of casualties; and epidemics including Ebola, Zika and Florence ($20 billion damages) is a reminder Bird Flu (in humans). that such storms

are more of an expectation than a surprise in this age. Those in the generation of Jesus can be pardoned for scoffing at the supposition of his

“Let us look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God.”

second coming because wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes and storms were commonplace, and it appeared as if “all things continue as they were” (2 Pet. 3:4).

But woe to our generation if we ignore the pace at which these calamities have progressed since then. Let us look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God and say come Lord Jesus (2 Pet. 3:12, Rev. 22:20).

American Evangelicals call Trump the ‘modern-day’ Cyrus

CRL COMMISSION Still Determined To Regulate Religion In South Africa

The Israeli Mikdash Educational Center minted a coin showing Trump and Cyrus side by side.

Cyrus the Great was a Persian King who destroyed Babylon and ended the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people and gave an unprecedented declaration to free the Jews back to their homeland to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and reestablish Israel.

He ruled during 559–530 BCE. What is unique about Cyrus is that God intervened in the history of Israel by using the most unlikely of instruments; one coming from a background of pagan worship was chosen as the LORD’s anointed king (Isaiah 45:1) for the task at hand. Trump is likened by some to this great conqueror of old for his astute support of Jews and Christians alike.

Like Cyrus, who was an instrument of God in “navigating through chaos”, Trump is believed to have been chosen by God with an equal biblical mandate despite the character flaws mentioned by many. He moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem without shivering; and has largely been firm of his support for Christian rights in the US. Ironically, Obama is seen as a better moral leader than Trump; but during his presidency, religious liberty for Christians was sadly at a close collapse.

Trump is hated and loved by many. It solely depends on which angle you look at him. For the Jews, Trump is a hero, but for the democrats, cries of impeachment are ever becoming louder. We don’t know what the future holds for Trump during the November midterm election, but the veracity of this biblical mandate will surely be tested.

Euthanasia is Coming to South Africa Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma (google dict.). It is also synonymous to assisted-suicide.

COPE MP Deidrie Carter introduced the legalisation for Euthanasia or “Advance Health Care Directives” Private Members Bill. Even though not yet legal; but should this be accepted by our parliament, one can only fear for the spirituality of this nation in light of an already exacerbated culture of pro-death, with an abortion death toll for 2017 climbing to about 110 000 babies killed.

This is simply legalising suicide. Evidence from countries where euthanasia is legal, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, shows that thousands of patients have been euthanised without their consent by nurses or doctors (Africa Christian Action). The ramifications of this move could have eternal bearings for many, and Prov. 31:8 states “Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.” One should be on the lookout for when the Bill will be issued for public comments and write to the government.

Credit: EWN

The CRL Commission is going to the Constitutional Court for “determination on whether freedom of religion is limitless”.

Over the past few years, the church has come under the spotlight after incidents of pastors feeding congregants grass, insects, and even spraying pesticide on people.

This led to an investigation by CRL Commission of the Commercialization of Religion & Abuse of People's Belief Systems.The Commission submitted a Report last year to parliament which included recommendations that all religious leaders be licensed in order to operate.

The parliamentary committee of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) declined to support the main recommendations of the Report, which included granting the CRL Commission new powers to regulate religion.

Instead, CoGTA recommended that the CRL convenes a National Consultative Conference (NCC) to give a platform

to discuss challenges in the religious sector, and to give the sector an opportunity to develop its own self-regulatory solutions along the lines of a Code of Ethics.

While the CRL Commission is in the process of organizing the conference, they have approached the Constitutional Court to push for regulation of religion.

The CRL Commission chairwoman, Thoko MkhwanaziXaluva said “We are still going to push the issue of the Constitutional Court’s determination on whether freedom of religion is limitless.

Can you say people can feed people anything and say they are doing what they are doing now all in the name of freedom of religion?” [EWN] It seems the CRL believes that the Court will rule in their favour and confirm that they are already empowered to introduce legislation to unilaterally license and regulate the religious sector.

The church should continue to be alert of the CRL Commission’s intensions as freedom of religion is on the line.

6 Confirmed Dead And 4 Hospitalized In ‘Jik’ Bleach Drinking Church Ancient bible wisdom states: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1).

Whether this is the case for the leader of this congregation; one has only to look to where the evidence leads. A life . threatening, and endangering incident occurred on the Sunday of the 9th of September 2018, at a local church in Makgodu, Limpopo.

Pastor Ruffus Phala of the Ark Centre Ministry gave his congregants ‘Jik’ bleach to drink after randomly selecting certain members of the church to the front to have a sip. The church incident resulted to stomach pains, and the imminent death of six, and four got critically hospitalised. The pastor claims that he drank of the bleach.

This is the second detergent Pastor Phala is experimenting on his congregants.

Credit: DailySun

In 2016, the minister was known to have caused his congregants to drink Dettol. Daily Sun reports that Phala assured his congregation that they were not actually drinking Jik, but Jesus’ blood.

All of this was done in the name of faithbased miraculous declarations and quoting the passage of the Lord’s supper (Mark 14:22-25).

When the police tried to locate the pastor that Sunday - he was nowhere to be found.

The Pastor came under fire from the Cultural, Religious, and Linguistics Rights Commission; citing that Phala and his congregants are seeking popularity. The Daily Meal explains that household bleach, in this case Jik, is a dilution of about 5.25% sodium hypochlorite in water.

As bleach is an oxidizer, it causes chemical burns. This means that by drinking bleach, you are essentially burning your insides from your mouth to your oesophagus, and then to your stomach.

This is a call to be soberly minded and make God’s truth the centre of our lives.

The Need To Be Sober Many of these substances (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes and painkillers) are perceived as acceptable for recreational and medicinal purposes when used in moderation.

Credit: AdobeStock

In South Africa alone, one in every five adults abuse mind-altering substances, and a 2014 study in the South African Medical Journal found that the annual cost to the country of alcohol abuse alone was up to 10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – roughly R35m each year. Globally, it has been estimated that one in every twenty people of working age (Baghaie et al., 2017) use illegal substances.

Some, like marijuana, have been subject to more scrutiny, but have found acceptance in a more liberal world (e.g. the SA Constitutional Court ruling to decriminalize the private use of dagga, and Canada’s move to legalize weed).

Others are outright illicit and have pushed governments to declare a ‘war on drugs’… in the Philippines, the crackdown has been brutal, with the President essentially confessing to the sin of extrajudicial killings.

Whether it is the misuse (or even plain use) of legal substances or the use of illegal substances; any substance which influences your ability to exercise sound judgment (either through the use of it, or through withdrawal symptoms) is not advisable.

As sons and daughters of the Most High God, we are gods (Psa.82:6) … but we will perish as ordinary men if we fail to administer our duties on earth (Psa.82:3-5,7), which require our full attention and soberness, for the time is short (1 Pet. 4:5). These substances are not for those who understand they are Christ’s ambassadors on earth, but are for those ready to perish and of heavy heart (Prov. 31:4-9).

This is our 1st Year Anniversary as a functioning evangelical association in South Africa. It all began in Cape Town as friends who love the Lord and concerned about the lack of information on end time developments and the general status of holiness in the Church. Our first newspaper called End Times was released on the 10th of November 2017. Since that time, we have finished a full 12 month circle of distributions, making this our 1st anniversary.

We released very few copies about 270 in black and white using our own cash at that time. This is a free newspaper and we depend on God to finance His work. It was a difficult and exciting journey for the team as a whole during this time. We thank God for those who supported us during this time and we hope that we can continue to add value to your life. We love you all and God bless you all!!– From the End Times Team.

We Are Already Blessed Why do Christians fall prey to charlatans masquerading as prophets of God? Sometimes it is because we do not know that we are indeed already blessed as children of the Most High God. In Numbers 22, we learn of Moabites who feared and wanted to destroy the nation of Israel. Balak, the King of Moab approached a man who was known to be a powerful prophet, Balaam. The king of Moab believed that if Balaam cursed Israel, they would stand a good chance of defeating Israel. So the king pleaded with Balaam, even offering him fortune, in exchange for cursing Israel.

When the Prophet Balaam approached God for guidance, this was the Lord’s answer, "You shall not go with them.

You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." [Numbers 22:12]. It is important for us to know that Israel was not blessed because of what they had done for God. They were blessed because they were chosen, they were the offspring of Abraham, whom God had made a covenant with. Since Israel did not earn the blessing, all they had to do was to stay in the blessing, by keeping all the

Lord’s commandments. Today many Christians believe they have to pay large sums of money to consult with prophets to earn God’s blessings. Many Christians have not come to a place of understanding that we have been made heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. We are indeed blessed by the virtue of being made children of God. In order to defeat Israel, Balaam accepted a bribe and thought the Balak to cause Israel to sin before God [Revelation 2:14].

The lesson is that as God’s chosen people, we are indeed blessed, we only need to walk with Him in righteousness.